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March 13, 2013

PAKODA KUZHAMBU RECIPE

Blogging has helped me to get many good friends.One such friend is Sudha..We became friends very recently, we discuss much about varieties of recipes..She always encourages me to post unique dishes. Last week when we were chatting , she asked me about pakoda kuzhambu. Though i have not tasted or tried it , i remembered the recipe i wrote in my cookbook long time back..She told its a famous gravy in chennai & asked me to try and post here..I quickly referred some websites to compare with my cookbook recipe and tried it. I loved it very much. The procedure and the taste is very similar to vada curry. After I surfed , I came to know this is a Chettinad famous dish and it tastes good for rice , idli & dosa too. This gravy can be made with or without coconut as per our taste. I added little coconut paste for thickness. Also the pakoda recipe i’ve given here is an instant version. I have not used channa dal for making pakoda like Chettinad recipe. Instead I used besan flour and made it like our onion pakoda. Usually Onions are chopped finely and added. I sliced it and used. Pakoda was very crispy. So this recipe has many variations from the authentic Chettinad pakoda kulambu. Do try this version and let me know how you liked it.

INGREDIENTS

FOR PAKODA

Gram flour/ Besan flour – 6 tsp

Rice flour – 2 tsp

Big onion – 2 nos ( thinly sliced)

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp

fennel – 1/4 tsp

Cooking soda – A small pinch

Curry leaves - Few

Salt & Water – As needed

FOR GRAVY

Cooking oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Cinnamon – 1 piece

Cloves – 2 nos

Fennel seeds – 1/2 tsp

Small onion – 10 nos (finely chopped)

Whole Garlic cloves – 10 nos

Curry leaves - few

Red chillies – 1 no

Tamarind – A big goose berry size

Sambhar powder – 2 to 3 tsp (as per taste)

Salt & water – as needed

Grated coconut – 1.5 tbsp (to grind)

METHOD

Take a wide bowl and mix all the ingredients given under “For pakoda” adding little water to make a thick paste. Pinch small balls and deep fry the pakoda till onions turn golden brown.Set aside.